Challenges and Strategies for Educating Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Medical Education in COVID-19: Challenges and Strategies

Abstract

During the Covid 19 pandemic, medical student education faced many challenges as these students became involved in the treatment of disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to systematically review the challenges and strategies for medical student education during the Covid 19 pandemic. This study is a systematic review. To find the necessary documents and collect the information, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases, some websites, search engines, and organizational reports were used from January 2019 to the end of 2022. The data were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. Of the 14523 studies found, 82 documents were finally included. Most studies had been conducted in the United States (18%), and the largest target population was professional assistants (41%). A total of 228 challenges were identified and categorized into seven major themes (financial constraints and infrastructure development, international education, assessment, and testing system, student health and preparation, professional ethics, faculty empowerment, and virtual education) and 14 subthemes. The most significant challenges were virtual education, student health, and financial and infrastructure constraints. Solutions were also categorized into five main areas: virtual education, infrastructure and physical, educational approach, faculty empowerment, health, and 23 subcategories. Identifying and analyzing the challenges presented in this study and the solutions offered could help policymakers and higher education managers make evidence-based decisions tailored to local conditions and turn the Covid 19 crisis into an educational opportunity.